Machine for finishing heels and bottoms.



No. 69|,I04. Patented Jan. I4, i902.

W. A. BLODGETT.

MACHIE FOR FINISHING HEELS AND BOTTUMS.

(Application med Mm. 14, 1901,)

(No Model.)

|lllllllllll1lmll" "millllllllllll"| we Hemus PETERS cu, PHOTQLITNQY, gsumcwu n c NITED STATES ArtNr FFICE@ WILLIAM A. BLODGETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEIIALF TO THOMAS E. WOODLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR FINIS'HING HEELSAAND BOTTOh/IS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,104, dated January 14, 1902.

Application filed March 14,1901. Serial No. 51,176. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM A. BLoDeETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines forFinishin g Heels and Bottoms, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to improvements in machines for surface-finishing the bottoms and heels of boots and shoes.

In burnishing the surface of smooth leather, especially when coated with any usual finishing or luster-producing material, the operation may usually be expedited and the result improved by simply warmin g the surface or warming and slightly dam pening the same while or before the burnishing operation is carried on. In finishing the surfaces or edges of the heels and soles of shoes they are coated with a suitable composition of wax and coloring-matter and burnished by bringing them into contact with a rotating burnishing-Wheel, the workin g face of which carries some of the finishing compound. Hltherto it has been usual either to rely upon friction alone to soften and spread the wax or to provide a burnishing-wheel heated internally by steam or a gas-jet. These old methods are objectionable, because if friction alone is relied upon to heat and spread the inishing-wax it is apt to produce an uneven coating thereof and the operation is necessarily slow,whi1e if the wheel is heated by means of steam ora gas-jetit necessitates the use of a metal wheel and it is difiicult to maintain the desired temperature. Such wheels have been provided with metallic spring peripheral sections; but when the wheel is rotated at the necessarily high speed the periphery or working face cannot be made to conform with desired rapidity to concave surfaces, such as the heels, particularly of ladies shoes.

My object is to provide a machine of improved construction for burnishing the heels and bottoms of boots and shoes wherein the working face of the burnishing-wheel and also, if desired, the surface of the leather being burnished are subjected to a current or blast of moist warm air of desired temperature. Thus inthe burnishing operation the finishing wax or compound employed will be quickly and suitably softened and spread to produce a desirable uniform coating which 5;; is quickly burnished by the wheel.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front,` elevation of a shoe burnishing and polishing machine constructed With my improvements; Fig. 2, an enlarged section taken on line 2 of 6o -Fig l; Fig. 3, a broken section on line 3 ot' Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a section on linel of Fig. l.

A isa frame formed with bearings a o for a shaft B. On the shaft are fast and loose pulleys h. Mounted upon one end of the shaft is a burnishing-wheel C, which may be of any desired form. The burnishing-wheel shown has a Wheel center c and rim c' to hold a hollow rubber ring or pneumatic tire c2. Extending over the surface of the tire is 7o a canvas covering d, which may be clamped in place by means of the disks d dias shown in Fig. 3.

D is a polishing-wheel, also mounted upon the shaft B and of any desired construction.

Mounted upon the frame A is a hood E of a construction to house the rear half of the burnishing-wheel, as shown. Similarly housing the wheel D is a hood F.

Mounted on the shaft B in the construction 8o shown is a blower G, fromwhich extends an airconducting pipe l-I. Surrounding a por-y tion of the pipe H is a heating-chamber I, which may be open at the top and bottom, as shown in Fig. 4, and provided below its lower opening with gas-burners I. The pipe H communicates with the hoods E F. Preferably the hoods are formed of members hinged together at e, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby they may be swung backward out of operative po- 9o sitiou when it is desired to get at the wheels.

In the rotation of the shaft B the blower G sends a current of air through the pipe H,- which is heated at the chamber I. The air thus warmed is discharged into the hoods'E g5 F, the blast being directed over the peripheries of the burnishing and polishing wheels and beyond the latter against the surface of the leather that is being burnished and polished. Finishing-wax may be rubbed upon roo the wheel C in `the usual manner, and the heat of the hot-air blast will cause it to soften v and spread upon the surface of the wheel. The heel or other portion of the shoe pressed against the surface of the Wheel C will become coated with the waXy composition and burnished at the same time in the usual manner. The temperature of the hot-air blast may be regulated as desired, so that the wheel may be maintained at a temperature which will produce the best results in the operation. The polishing-wheel D is warmed in the same manner, and thus performs its polishing or burnishing operation in a manner more quickly and satisfactorily than would otherwise be the case. The air drawn in by the blower is passed through a suitable air-moistening device, (not shown,) orwater may be caused to drip into the pipe H from a waterpipe K, as indicated in Fig. l, to meisten the ments as shown and described, they may be variously modified in the matter of details of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention as `defined by the claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a heel and bottom burnishing machine, the combination with a rotary burnishing-.wheel carrying finishing compound on its working face, an air-conduit connected with a compressed-air supply'and arranged to discharge against the working face of said wheel during its rotation, means for moistening and means for warming the air in its passage through J[he conduit.

2. In a heel and bottom burnishing machine, the combination with a rotary burnishing-wheel carrying finishing compound on its working face, a hood partly housing the wheel and mounted to be swung therefrom, a conduit connected with a compressed-air supply and communicating with the hood, and means for moistening and means for warming the air in its passage through the conduit.

WILLIAM A. BLODGETT.

In presence of- D. W. LEE, ALBERT D. BACCI. 

